He nodded, lifting his arms. Our hug was all shoulders and arms, tight, a hug two friends would share. But while my chin was over his shoulder, a low buzzing sound called my attention. I drew away,looking for the source, when a colorful dot darted through my peripheral.
Cooper, hearing it too, frowned and turned away from me.
Then we both gasped.
A hummingbird with a maroon throat landed on the feeder’s perch.
I gripped his forearm, my jaw falling open. Cooper stared in stunned silence, his hand moving to cover mine on his arm. We stood shoulder to shoulder, watching in rapt awe as that elaborately colored hummingbird tested every plastic yellow flower, sampling the food from all sides.
It landed, preening its feathers on the perch.
When I dragged my eyes away from the bird, I found Cooper’s welling with moisture. He swallowed deep once, then again, fighting to keep his tough guy aura in place. Without looking away from the bird, he whispered, “It’s a male ruby-throated hummingbird.”
I squeezed his arm, and he squeezed me back.
Then the bird zoomed over the roof of the house.
When Cooper looked down at me, a tear streaked down his cheek. He didn’t wipe it away, just stared at me, like he wasn’t sure what to say.
My own tears blurred my vision. “You got another miracle, Cooper.”
He nodded, unable to respond.
“You’ll get more—I just know it. And when you’re back from rehab, there’ll be so many you’ll lose count.”
He pulled me into one more goodbye hug, this one a little more desperate.
THIRTY
Hollie
The sun beat down on my neck as I leaned against the arena fence, watching the girls from a distance. Sweet Cade had politely asked me at breakfast if we’d like to come out and ride the horses this afternoon. Now that Tag was back from Austin, Jesse had the time.
Izzy and Nora, high up on the horses, were dressed in matching teal and denim with twin braids beneath their red helmets. Each of them wore ear-to-ear smiles and talked a mile a minute. I was trying my best to stay enthusiastic, but sorrow weighed me down.
It had been days since Jesse bandaged my fingers in the barn, but we hadn’t talked since. We crossed paths at meal times, but he didn’t talk to me. He thanked me for the meal, and that was it.
I should’ve been relieved that he respected my request not to seek me out. But, now, loneliness nipped at my heels. I’d essentially pushed Jesse away in order to give myself more emotional space to process everything going on with Garrett. And in hindsight, Iregretted it. Jesse felt like the light at Meadowbrook. It was in everyone’s best interest that Jesse and I not get too involved…but…
What about happiness? Specifically,myhappiness?
My thoughts swarmed in my head, nauseating in their repetitiveness. Whatever infatuation Jesse and I had could never have the space or time to bloom, could it? Because at the end of my stay, whether I liked it or not, I had to go back.
I tried not to stare at Jesse as he led Nora’s horse around the arena with a rope. Nora was talking his ear off as he walked beside her, nodding and making conversation. Why did he have to be so kind? His good-guy aura was like a magnet, pulling every soul toward him.
“Alright.” Jesse pulled Nora and her horse to a stop and Cade followed suit with Izzy. “You girls ready to do it on your own?”
He launched into an explanation of how to hold the reins, to steer the horse around, and get it to stop and go. Handing Nora her reins, he said, “Go ahead. Give Moonshine a little squeeze with your heels. He’s pretty lazy so you gotta stick the heel of your shoe into him.”
Nora stroked Moonshine’s mane. “But I don’t want to hurt poor Moony.”
Cade and Izzy snickered at the horse’s new nickname.
Jesse chuckled too. “Nah. I promise you won’t hurt Moony. He’s tough.”
Nora gave it a try, squeezing her heels into Moonshine and he rewarded her by lazily pulling forward. She wriggled with happiness.
Jesse reminded, “Lead him with the reins.”
